More Tough Talk on Terrorism From Europe

Tough minded Americans have had a lot of fun lately mocking Europeans as being weak-kneed surrender monkeys. As was noted previously on USANow, the French have come out with tough anti-terrorism legislation, the types of laws which would make John Ashcroft proud.

In the wake of Theo van Gogh's murder by Muslim extremists, lawmakers in The Netherlands have also come out talking tough. The leader of the Christian Democrat party, Maxime Verhagen, said "When it comes to preparing a terrorist attack, it's better to have 10 possibly innocent people temporarily in jail than one with a bomb on the street". Other leaders have suggested the closing of any mosque that preaches violence, as well as arresting 150 Muslim extremists on the government's watch list.

For three years now, the United States has led the War on Terror. For three years, we have struggled to match our need for homeland security with our desire for civil rights. John Ashcroft has been unfairly crucified by our liberal media as well as the ACLU as a result of the Patriot Act. The US policy related to Guantanamo Bay detainees has also come under fire from all directions. But with the recent turn of events in Europe, US policies don't seem so tough after all.

With blood thirsty Muslims committing atrocities across the globe, and with more and more governments cracking down on Muslim extremists, it is clear that Americans are not alone in this fight. Let's hope US legislators listen to the advice of Maxime Verhagen, and resist calls by out of touch liberals to weaken anti-terror laws in the name of civil liberties.